By Steve Reed
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Omarion Hampton is eager to become a more versatile, well-rounded running back entering his third season at North Carolina.
Hey, even second-team All-Americans need goals.
Hampton was fifth in the nation in rushing last season with 1,504 yards and 15 touchdowns, averaging 5.9 yards per carry. But his receiving numbers were much more pedestrian with 29 receptions for 222 yards and one touchdown.
“I just want to show that I’m an all-around back, like Christian McCaffrey on Sundays,” Hampton said, referring to the San Francisco 49ers All-Pro running back. “I want to catch the ball more, have more receiving yards and get better at pass blocking, because I know that is what they want in the National Football League. Doing that, it will expand my game.”
Hampton said he’s been working on his hands during the offseason with some of the team’s wide receivers, including J.J. Jones.
North Carolina coach Mack Brown said Hampton has taken big steps in the passing game.
“I think he’s already there — he can catch, he can block and he can run,” Brown said Thursday during ACC media days.
Hampton hasn’t forgot about his bread and butter.
He said Thursday that he wants to become the first North Carolina running back to surpass 2,000 yards rushing in a season, which would shatter Don McCauley’s single-season record of 1,720 yards in 1970.
But Brown said he wants to find others who can share the load with Hampton in the backfield, so he can keep his star back healthy for the entire season.
“Last year I wouldn’t let him come out of the game,” Brown said. “(Running backs coach) Larry Porter would be on the sideline saying, ‘OK, Omarion…,” and I would say, ‘No, leave him in.’ Porter would say, ‘But we’re at the 20,” and I would say: “He can go 80 (yards), and the others can’t.’”
Bringing back the mullet
When transfer quarterback Grayson McCall showed up at North Carolina State with a buzzcut, it turned some heads.
“My first day of workouts I come into the locker room and I’m like, ‘Who’s that transfer?,” said Wolfpack running back Jordan Waters. “Guys were like, ‘That’s Grayson McCall.’ And I’m like, ‘That’s not Grayson McCall.’”
McCall was known as much for his long-haired mullet as his quarterback play during his five seasons at Coastal Carolina, where he threw for more than 10,000 yards and 88 touchdowns while elevating the Chanticleers onto the national scene.
Behind the prodding of his new Wolfpack teammates, McCall said he’s decided to grow the mullet again.
“It’s coming, baby. It’s coming,” McCall said with a wide smile. “When I showed up to Raleigh with the buzzcut, I got a lot of mullet requests. I’m ready to let this thing go.”
Waters is among those happy to see the return of the mullet.
“The mullet is Grayson McCall,” Waters said. “He looks so much better with it.”
Brown: Restore SU greatness
Syracuse is another ACC school with a new head coach in Fran Brown, who immediately made an impact by bringing in the highest ranked recruiting class in school history.
New he’s hoping to return championship-starved Syracuse to prominence.
“I want to make sure that Syracuse gets back to where they belong, where it was, where football kind of started at, in my opinion. You’re going back to Jim Brown, Ernie Davis, Floyd Little, Larry Csonka,” said Brown, a former Georgia assistant who has never been a coordinator or head coach at the college level.
One of the Orange’s top recruits is Ohio State transfer quarterback Kyle McCord.
He threw for 3,170 yards and 24 touchdowns last season, but it was his interception with 25 seconds left in the Buckeyes’ 30-24 loss to rival Michigan that many Ohio State will remember. With the victory, the Wolverines advanced to the Big Ten championship game and eventually went on to win the national championship.
“I still have a little bit of a sour taste in my mouth from the last time I was on the field against Michigan,” McCord said. “I’ve been eager to get back out on the field and start competing.”
Picking Pete’s brain
Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik said he was able to pick the brain of former Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll at a recent Elite 11 camp.
“I learned a couple of secrets that (former Seahawks QB) Russell Wilson had and the way he led when adversity hit,” Klubnik said. “Some things that he would tell him himself during a game, and things he would tell his teammates, too. It was really great. Also, how he would prepare for games.”
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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll